ANINTRODUCTIONTOAGRONOMY

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1. Our cultivated planet

There are many ways to compare agricultural productions, such as the number of calories produced, but here we will start by looking at the simplest metric: the area harvested per crop.

The table below shows the ten most cultivated crops of the world. Of 1,400 million hectares (Mha) of arable land, more than a third is covered by the three major cereals: wheat, maize and rice. Soybeans are the only other crop to be grown on more than 100 Mha, with strong growth over the last 30 years, while other crops covers much smaller areas. Although they do not always have the highest yields, the largest countries (USA, China, Russia, India, etc.) are the main grain producers, with more or less regional specificities depending on the crop. the largest producers are not always the largest exporters (as in the case of the USA for millet).

Crops1		Yield (per ha) and Surface evolution2	Total country production (Up to 36% of world production) and top importer/exporter
	1. Wheat (214 Mha) Originally from the Fertile Crescent, in the Middle East, wheat is now the most cultivated cereal in the world, mostly for human consumption. China is the main producer, with 17% of world production.
	2. Maize (197 Mha) Maize, first cultivated in México, is now widely grown, except in the coldest regions. It is mainly used for animal feed. The USA produces more than 30% of the world's harvest.
	3. Rice (166 Mha) Rice is the world's third major cereal but, unlike the others, it is still mostly grown in its historical area of origin: Asia. China and India produce more than half of total production.
	4. Soybeans (124 Mha) Soya is the most cultivated legume. First domesticated in China, it is now produced primarily in America (34% in Brazil) and exported throughout the world, mainly for animal feeding.
	5. Barley (48 Mha) Barley is mainly grown in temperate regions, for malting and animal feeding. Russia is the main producer, with 13% of global production.
	6. Sorghum (42 Mha) First domesticated in Africa, sorghum is frequently used as an alternative to maize in dry areas (12% of total production in Nigeria, just behind USA). It may also be used for bioenergy production.
	7. Rapeseed (37 Mha) Rapeseed is grown for oil production. Once pressed, oilcakes are used for animal feeding. Canada is the main producer (26% of total production).
	8. Beans (36 Mha) Beans are the second most important legume species cultivated in the world. They are more frequently used for human consumption than soybeans. Myanmar is the world's largest producer (20%).
	9. Millet (33 Mha) Millet is a cereal generally cultivated in an extensive way, in dry regions. India is the main producer, with 36% of total production.
	10. Cotton (32 Mha) Cotton, the leading textile crop, was domesticated in both the New World (México and South America) and Old World (Africa and Asia). Now China produces 29% of world production.
Data: FAO | Table: @BjnNowak
1 The areas occupied by each crop as well as the maps of the quantity produced by each country refer to year 2018. 2 Trends from 1990 to 2019 expressed as percentage of values for year 1990